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Introduction
Imagine a government in which you feared for your life.
A king who would kill all the babies in one area because of the perceived threat of just one of them.
A governor who killed those worshipping while making their sacrifices.
A ruler who lopped the head off of God’s prophet because he made a rash vow when overly exuberant.
Imagine having a foreign power who dispersed their troops into your town, basically declaring marshal law.
Imagine a government that used your money to build or maintain statues and temples to foreign gods, burn fellow-Christians at the stake, crucify them, or behead them, and pay for parties, orgies, and grotesque lifestyles.
It was to those under such authority that Paul wrote the words we are studying today.
Authority is more than a fact of life; it is God’s goodness for our lives.
Paul gives us three insights that will help us to navigate our way through authorities in our lives.
The Reason for Authority
The Responsibility of Authority
The Response to Authority
The Reason for Authority
The first insight that we’re going to look at from Paul that helps us navigate our way through authorities in our lives is the reason we have authority in the first place.
The reason for authority in our lives is because God cares about us and cares about justice, therefore God appointed there to be authority in our lives.
We see this throughout the Bible, and I’ll give some examples in a moment, but let’s look at verse 4. “For he is God’s servant for your good.”
The authorities in life are God’s servants for your good.
God cares about your good and so has ordained for authority to be in your life.
Look at what the Queen of Sheba said about Solomon after witnessing his wisdom firsthand.
Look at what David wrote about God’s love and justice
When God spoke to Israel through the prophet Jeremiah, he said,
At some point this week, type justice into your Bible app of choice and read what God says about it.
The Bible is filled with statements about God’s love for his people, for widows and orphans, for sojourners and aliens.
God loves you and he loves justice, and therefore God, in his love, has given you and I governing authorities.
And just to be clear, this is applicable to all authority God has appointed: parental, governmental, and even employmental (which is not a word).
The word that is translated “governing” really means those of higher ranking or a higher position.
Thus, kids: God has given you your parents because he loves you and loves justice.
God put parents in your life to teach you to be children who make wise choices and do good.
Those with jobs: God has given you supervisors, managers, and bosses because he loves you and loves justice.
God put bosses in your life to help you be productive and hard-workers for the good of society.
We who are citizens: God has given us our governmental leaders because he loves you and loves justice.
Romans 13:1 (ESV)
For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
Romans 13:4 (ESV)
for he is God’s servant for your good.
God has given us governmental authority to help us to be productive citizens and live for the good of our neighbor.
The Responsibility of Authority
The first insight that we’ve looked at is Paul’s reason for authority.
God instituted authority because he loves us and loves justice.
The second insight is now the responsibility of authority.
Biblically speaking, the government is to reward and encourage right conduct and discourage and punish wrong conduct.
As one commentator put it, Paul is not stating how authority actually is, but how it ought to be.
So whether we are talking about government, bosses, or parenting, we see here what ought to be and not necessarily what is.
But this text, Romans 13:1-7, goes back to what we discussed last week.
Repay no one evil for evil.
Last week, we saw that we are not to be avenging ourselves, but leave room for wrath.
Often that wrath comes about by the authority God has vested to earthly authorities.
Which means, kids: you don’t get to retaliate when your brother or sister does you wrong.
Mom or dad has that job given by God himself.
If you’re employed and one of your fellow-workers goes against company policy, unless you are the supervisor or the boss, then you are to bring it to the proper authority.
If someone steals your vehicle like they did mine last year, you leave it in the hands of the authorities.
We don’t take matters into our own hands at avenge ourselves.
That’s the job of those in authority.
What happens when those in authority don’t bring about justice?
What happens when they royally mess up?
What then?
Would that allow us to take vengeance for ourselves?
Not according to what Paul has said:
Never avenge yourselves.
Never.
There are times when justice won’t get done, and when that is due to a blatant disregard for justice, then by all means, seek justice against those who refused to do their God-decreed duty and for the original matter.
But when it is simply due to a lack of evidence, the death of the perpetrator, or some other reason, consign yourself and your situation to God.
The Response to Authority
So we move from the first insight as to the reason for authority, to the second insight: the responsibility of the authority, and now finally the third insight: the response to authority.
Our response to authority can be summed up in two words.
The first word is “submission.”
That word literally means to be placed under an arrangement.
God has so decreed/appointed (as we see in verse 2), and in such a decree we are under his arrangement and are to act like it.
This is a command that we, as believers are to follow.
It is the world that tends to rebel against authority.
As Christians, we are not to conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds.
And that renewal of mind says that we are not to rebel, but to submit.
To rebel, to resist the authority that we are under, is to resist God himself.
As a command, this is something that we are to do to and for ourselves.
We could translate this, “Subject yourselves to the governing authorities.”
It doesn’t matter what others do; as a Christian seeking to live according to God’s revelation, we are to submit ourselves to the governing authorities in our lives.
After all, as we saw, they are God’s servants for good or for punishment.
That doesn’t mean that they will at times not be or act corruptly, abandoning their God-given tasks.
But God is still God and God is still in charge of who is in charge.
And to resist them is to resist God.
And to resist God is to invite judgment.
The question is simply, whose judgment?
God’s or authorities.
And the answer is yes.
It will often be God’s wrath as carried out by those in authority, as verse 4 indicates.
“For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.”
The first response is submission.
The second response is subsidization.
We are subsidize, pay for, the work that the government is doing.
You say, I don’t like how my tax dollars are being used.
That’s no excuse for not paying your taxes.
You say, I don’t agree with how things are being taxed.
It’s still not an excuse to not pay.
Paul wrote, by inspiration of God, that taxes are to be paid.
Why?
Because those in authority are God’s servants, God’s ministers doing as God called them to do.
However imperfectly it may be, those in authority are seeking to reward the right, deter the evil, and punish the wrong when done.
Did Paul want his money used to build temples or idols or burn fellow-believers.
No.
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